The Taste of Poison
by thingsleftunsaid
Summary: When Snow White finds herself in a position to escape from the hell she had lived in for years, she jumps at the chance. She starts out on a journey she wasn't sure she wanted. Will a girl who only ever wanted freedom take on the responsibility of her own destiny, or will she fail and let evil take over?


_ A human is made of many things. Jealousy, Anger, Sadness, Tenderness, Love, Compassion. A human is lead by emotions, and we've learned to protect ourselves, from armies and danger, and all sorts of threats. Out of everything we've learned to keep under lock and key, the one thing we cannot seem to protect are our hearts. _

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A Queen stood in the garden on the grounds of her castle. She was staring at a bright red rose._ A rose_, she thought, _alive in the midst of winter_, she reached out and pricked her finger. She held out her hand, and three drops of blood fell to the snow below her. She admired them for a moment, the contrast, startling red upon snow white. She smiled, retracting her hand, _If only I could have a daughte_r, she thought, _with lips red as blood, skin white as snow, hair black as a raven's wing, all with the strength of that rose. _

And so she did, she gave birth to a daughter and named her Snow White. She was beloved by all in the kingdom, not only for her beauty, but for her heart, her compassion, and kindness to all creatures. The Queen loved her daughter like nothing else, and was fiercely protective. She swore no harm would come to her daughter as long as she lived.

_ "_Mother?" Snow White called, the Queen looked to her daughter

"Yes, my love?"

"Would you tell me a story?" she asked, her mother smiled

"of course." she climbed into the bed next to her daughter and began with the story she had told over and over again, the one Snow White had never tired of hearing. "There once was a Knight, a charming young Knight off to fight in the war,"

"And his name was Magnus!" Snow White finished off with a smile, her mother smiled back down at her

"Yes it was. He was a brave knight, and more than that, he was a prince..." She kept telling the story and watched as her daughters eyes sparkled and she smiled, listening to the tale she heard a hundred times before. She let her voice trail off as Snow White's eyes closed and her breathing evened out and she snuggled into the Queen's side.

The next winter, when Snow White was nine years old, her mother passed away, she was heartbroken, and her father was inconsolable. And in the presence of his grief, when they knew he was weaker, there was an attack. An army moved in, and the king had to act. The army was...magic, many men said when they returned. The soldiers fell apart when they were slain, falling to bits like pieces of black glass glittering on the ground. Not only did the king bring a win back to his kingdom, he also brought a woman. He had found her in a cart of the enemy's, and she was beautiful. With long blonde hair, fair skin and pale blue eyes, she was lovelier than anyone in the kingdom. The day after the king brought her home, they were to be wed. Snow White took this information with a smile and a warm welcome. She sat in the room with the soon-to-be queen as they readied her for the ceremony.

"You're beautiful," Snow White smiled, looking up to the woman with a smile

"Thank you," she smiled back "that being said by the heart of the kingdom herself is a great compliment" Snow White giggled, she liked this woman, she was nice. The ceremony carried on, Snow White trailing behind the new queen as she walked down the isle towards the kind. The woman, Ravenna, and the King exchanged vows and the deed was done, and they were wed. Snow White was happy, she was happy that her father found another woman, and she was glad the woman was nice to her. `She was only a child.

That night, Snow White lay in her bed, sleeping soundly as children do, dreaming of sun and breeze. Her sleep was interrupted with a bang, she shot up in her bed and looked to her door, which stood ajar just how she liked it, peering into the dark hallway. She took the covers back and slipped out of her bed, setting her feet to the cold floor. She creeped out her door and instantly made her way to her father's room. She peeked into the room and instantly wished she hadn't, her father was lying on the bed, pinned to the mattress by a dagger through his chest, blood spilt over him and his eyes unseeing, staring up at the ceiling. Snow White resisted the urge to scream and turned away from the room, she knew screaming would only draw attention. As she ran down the hallway, she turned a corner and ran straight into who guards dressed entirely in black armor. Now, she screamed, the Queen walked over to where the guards held her by both of her slim, fragile arms. She bent down and looked into the child's face, searching.

"You killed my father!" Snow White screamed, ending on a sob "you stabbed him! you took his heart!" she accused, rendering the Queen momentarily speechless. And then she smiled.

"Lock her up." she told the guards, and they took Snow White off, quite literally kicking and screaming. They threw her into a cell in the very top tower of the castle. The small child landed on the ground, her head colliding with the stone and knocking her unconscious. They left her on the cold stone without a second thought and returned to the Queen's side, to watch the horror raging outside of the castle. From that point on, the towertop prison was Snow White's new home. The room has a fireplace, hay, and a small cot, though she rarely slept in it. She stayed in the far corner, watching the door at all times. She watched girls be thrown into the cell parallel to hers, and she always called out. Finally, someone answered.

"What's your name?" Snow White asked

"Brenna," The girl answered, she was older, a young adult, and she was gorgeous.

"I'm Snow White." she answered, Brenna stared at her

"The king's daughter? They didn't kill you? She didn't kill you? God, she killed everyone..." the girl stopped speaking as guards rounded the corner and walked to her cell, opening up the door and dragging her out. Brenna screamed, Snow White cried for her. She took up her residence in the corner and stayed. Eventually, Brenna was thrown back into the cell.

"Brenna!" Snow White cried out, gripping the bars. Brenna turned away, crying.

"She sucked the life out of me. She feeds on girls, she eats hearts! She eats hearts..." Brenna crawled off into her own corner, much frailer than she had looked before. Snow White backed up against the wall and cried.

When Snow White was twelve, the Queen came to her. She called her over to the bars of her cell and took her chin in her hand.

"You're coming along quite nicely, aren't you?" she seemed to be talking to herself "you're almost perfect...aside from that scar." She eyed the small raised line on Snow White's temple, a remnant of when the guards had tossed her less-than-gracefully onto the stone floor. "It's small...but there must be no imperfections." At that, she turned and left the room, slamming the door and leaving Snow White confused and sitting on the stone cold ground.

The very next day she was awoken by the familiar screech of the metal door opening. As she opened her eyes she was a man walking over to her, holding a satchel over his shoulder. He knelt down in front of her and ran his fingers over the small scar on her temple.

"Yes, I think we can fix this." he said, which woke Snow White up enough to realize that the Queen was standing behind the man, who she guessed was a doctor. She stiffened and backed up against the far wall.

"Don't kill me!" she begged, gasping for air, the Doctor looked at her with wide, surprised eyes as the Queen glared her way. The Doctor leaned in closer

"Nobody's going to kill you." he assured in a calm voice, trying to get her to look at him,

"She'll eat my heart." Snow White whispered frantically "she'll eat my heart like all the other girls, she'll suck out my soul!" The Doctor was truly worried now,

"It seems our dear Snow White has gone a bit off the rails." The Queen said "She's hallucinating."

"She must be treated."

"I agree." The Queen said "I've had to keep her locked up here. I feared she'd begin to hurt others in one of her episodes." The Doctor nodded and Snow White was horrified at the Queen's lies.

"There's and asylum just out of town, I'll take her there, treat her. She'll be as good as new." The Queen smiled

"Of course." she agreed and allowed the doctor to call in his assistants. She walked over to Snow White "you'll see what you get for trying to tell my secrets." She snarled, and straightened up as the Doctor's assistants came in and carried Snow White away. She was seated in a carriage and the next thing she knew she was thrown into another cell that made her wish she was back in the other. It was freezing, the floor was wet and she swore she saw bugs in the brief time the lantern lit the room before there was complete silence. In the night (or at least she thought it was night) she heard the other "patients" screaming, the sound echoing off the damp walls and back to her.

Snow White leaned her head against the wall and closed her eyes, concentration on blocking out the screams that seemed to be everywhere at once. She was woken up by hands on her shoulders, she bit her tongue to keep from screaming. They dragged her into a room and strapped her to a chair that sat over a tub of water.

"Now," Said one of the Doctors, "What does the Queen do to girls?" he asked, Snow White swallowed quickly,

"Sh-she takes their hearts." She said "I know, I know it sounds mad, but she does." The man nodded once and pulled a lever, the chair began to move and soon Snow White was dunked backwards into the tub of freezing cold water until her lungs burned from the lack of air and she screamed, making no sounds the men were able to hear. She gasped for air as they pulled her back up, half sobbing, half just trying to breathe again. Her small body was convulsing from the temperature of the water. She refused to lie. And they refused to believe her. She was burned and cut and everything horrible imaginable to try to get her to tell the truth, or at least break her spirit enough to get her to shut her mouth. It never worked.

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**Soo…this isn't what I normally write, which is good, right? I recently saw Snow White and the Huntsman and I had to write this. Obviously, it's darker than the original and it will continue to be so. Hope you guys enjoy!**


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